


Fly Next to Him

by ravyn_sinclair



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A Huge Pine Tree Forest, Allura Ships It, Eavesdropping, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Homesick Lance (Voltron), Implied Pining Lance (Voltron), Just...Pining, Keith and Pidge Can't Handle Crowds, Lance Talks About Shiro, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Shiro (Voltron), Pre-Relationship, That's it, that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-27
Updated: 2017-05-27
Packaged: 2018-11-05 14:43:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11015523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravyn_sinclair/pseuds/ravyn_sinclair
Summary: “I had always loved space.  Always loved looking at the stars and learning about the solar systems.  And piloting had always been a dream of mine.  But when Shiro came to my school...”  Lance's head ducked, and even from where Shiro was tucked away he could see Lance curling into himself, as if too shy to share his words.  “I knew then that I wanted to go up there.“I would go up there, I would become the best pilot I could, and then I'd be able to fly next him.”---Shiro knows he shouldn't, but he wants to hear what Lance thinks of him.   He doesn't regret it.





	Fly Next to Him

**Author's Note:**

> I literally just wanted Pining!Shiro and Pining!Lance and Shiro hearing about Lance thinking so highly of him WITHOUT once saying the words, "He's my hero." And that's what this is. That is literally all this is.
> 
> Just. 7 pages of fic and five of them are Lance waxing poetic about how much he ~~loves~~ admires Shiro.
> 
>  
> 
> **DISCLAIMER: **I do not own. They belong to DreamWorks. I merely fiddle around with headcanons and make these nerds pine after each other.****

“Shiro, if you would like to go check on Lance, that's alright. You don't have to stay by my side all night.”

Shiro started, a guilty flush working up to his ears as he tore his eyes away from the doorway on the far side of the hall. Allura was watching him with an amused look, eyes sparkling as Shiro coughed to hide him embarrassment. “Th-there's nothing to check on, Princess,” he said. “I'm sure Lance is just fine.”

“Yes, but if you go and check on him, that'll keep you from looking quite so love-sick,” the Princess said. When the Black Paladin shot her a wounded look, she stifled a snicker behind a hand.

“I – I - “ Shiro stammered, the flush working from his ears and down his neck. He coughed again. “Someone has to stay by your side, and I'm more that happy to take the role.” A pause. “And I do not look love-sick.”

Allura raised an unimpressed brow, and pointed delicately off to the side. “If having someone next to me is such a large concern of yours, Shiro, I assure you that either Keith or Pidge would gladly take your place.” Shiro followed her finger, and the corner of his lips twitched up unbidden; both the Red and Green Paladins were surrounded by a group of excited Beyazeens. Everyone on the team knew that they were the less sociable of the group, and from the looks of things both of them were steps away from exploding at the very people they had spent the last week saving.

“...If you're sure,” Shiro finally allowed, and Allura laughed.

“Please, it'll be less of them looking after me than it will be me looking after them,” she said, and patted the man on the arm. “Go. And I don't want to see you for at least another twenty dobashes.”

He smiled, and with a final nod walked off toward the doorway. Both Hunk and Lance had walked out those doors an hour ago talking excitedly to a pair of young Beyazeens (he thinks they might've been discussing dancing, he wasn't one hundred percent sure) to continue their conversation on the balcony, but Hunk had walked back into the hall with one of the aliens not twenty minutes ago. Meaning that the Blue Paladin was still on the balcony.

Alone.

With a young Beyazeen woman he had been flirting with.

While Lance did occasionally strike out with the aliens he flirted with, more often than not he didn't. Yes, he had a tendency to be over the top, dramatic, and _such_ a big dork, but...a lot of people liked that. He was smooth. Nice. He had a remarkably sweet personality and was so easy to be friends with. Alien ladies (and the occassional man) giggled over his jokes and pressed kisses to his cheeks before he left the planet. It wasn't something Lance bragged about, but he was great at flirting it up and building relationships. None of them had developed beyond flirting, but...it was only a matter of time.

Shiro wasn't jealous. He wasn't.

He crossed the threshold out onto the balcony, the echoing cacophony of the ballroom slipping away into the softer noise of the night outside, and dark eyes swept across the open space to search for his teammate. Beyazeens were scattered across the balcony, some sitting in chairs, some leaning against the railings, and some in tight circles chatting quietly with one another. It took a bit, but eventually Shiro spotted a single Beyazeen standing close to a figure in white and Blue.

Lance.

He paused, just a moment, to take in how the three moons' light illuminated the Blue Paladin. Warm browns cooled, long lines softened as if he were an airbrush painting. Pale light gleamed against his dark hair, and Shiro forgot how to breathe.

After his lungs remembered how to take in air again he started towards them, chest not quite as tight as before now that he'd seen Lance. 'You're just checking in on him,' he reminded himself. 'Just checking in and then you'll go back inside.'

“...so funny, Lance,” he heard the Beyazeen giggle, clawed fingers coming up to tuck one of the feathers around her face back in place.

Shiro did not grit his teeth.

“That's me, sweetheart, the funny guy!” Lance said, winking and hands shooting out with his finger guns. The Beyazeen giggled again, and Lance's smile got wider.

Shiro did not grit his teeth.

“I have enjoyed your tales about most of your companions, Lance,” the Bayazeen said once the giggles had pattered off, leaning forward. “But I've yet to hear anything from you about your leader. Surely you have interesting stories to share about him?”

At that question, Shiro slowed. Lance appeared to be thinking about the question, and... 'You don't need to hear this, Takashi,' he thought at himself, heart climbing up into his throat. 'You don't need to know what he really thinks about you, you know that there's no way - '

He walked quietly out of the way into a corner not far, regardless.

“He's our awesome leader, of course,” Lance started, voice holding a note of pride, and Shiro did his best to not seem like he was eavesdropping in on the conversation. “Only recently was he able to even fully bond with his Lion, and even before then he was the strongest of all of us.”

“I had thought your Hunk was the strongest, though?”

Lance waved a hand. “Physically speaking, yeah, but I mean more than that.” Lance's mouth quirked into a fond smile. “He's mentally strong. There's something about him that makes you just...want to follow him, you know?”

The Beyazeen nodded. “I see. Like our King?”

Lance laughed then, bright. “Kinda! I mean, if Shiro ever wanted to try starting up his own kingdom and asked me to follow him, I would. In a heartbeat. King Shiro for the win.”

A smile stole across Shiro's face.

“He's he not just an amazing leader, really,” Lance continued, leaning back on the railing. “Shiro is an amazing _person._ He's a patient teacher, genuinely wants to help others, loves animals of all shapes and sizes...”

“That makes him...amazing?”

“Yes! Okay, a few planets ago there was a tiny little alien animal stuck in a tree, right? It was small, and he could have ignored it, could have gotten someone else to help it, and you know what he did?” Lance grinned. “He immediately started climbing the tree to go help the thing.” He laughed. “It took him _forever_ , and he nearly missed a really important meeting with these delegates, but he climbed up there, sweet talked the tiny furry thing into crawling into his arms, and then carried it down with him. There were these adorable Kimya kids that were crying so hard to have their pet back, let me tell you, and all Shiro wanted in return for doing that was to pet the animal for a couple minutes after the meeting was over.”

Something warm twisted in his heart as Shiro listened, a hand coming up to cover the smile on his face. He hadn't even known that Lance had seen that particular incident, though to be fair as soon as he had heard that there was a tiny pupper-like animal stuck in a tree all thought had gone out the window. (He really liked puppers, okay?)

“And he's _nice_ , which is,” here Lance made an indecipherable noise that Shiro could only describe at some sort of dinosaur screech, which made him snort. “That's such a good thing, you know? He's so _nice_.”

“Are Terrans not normally nice?” the Beyazeen asked, confused. “Most of your team is Terran and nice. I had thought this was just a quality of your species.”

Lance gave the alien a touched smile, but he shook his head. “I mean, yeah, most are nice but,” he shrugged, eyes darting over the gardens that the balcony overlooked. “He's been in a leadership position for a long time. Longer than he's been the leader of Voltron, you know? And he's never taken that position, that _power_ , for granted.

“Back on Earth – or Terra, as you guys call it – Shiro was in the spotlight at the age of fifteen. That's really young by our standards,” he explained. “Prodigy pilot of the largest and most prestigious academy on the planet and youngest to graduate from the program. His first mission into space was at sixteen – they didn't normally allow pilots that young up into space, but he was so _good_ at what he did that they bent the rules for him,” Lance said, voice so filled with...it wasn't quite awe, but it was close, and there was something almost reverent in his tone.

“Did you know, he came to my school after that first mission to give a speech?” Lance said, and Shiro jolted.

'I did?' he thought, blinking in surprise. He remembered going to school across the US after that mission; the Garrison had wanted to use his face to inspire young teens into enlisting in the program, and while it was a pain, he did it. He remembered answering so many curious questions (“What's it like up there?” “Is it really, really cold?” “Are the space suits uncomfortable?”), but...surely he would remember someone as loud and bright as Lance asking him questions.

Lance laughed, a quiet thing that struck Shiro as soft. “I...I was too shy to talk to him when he was there,” he admitted, and Shiro's brow furrowed as he tried to picture Lance as _shy_ , even as a young teen. “I had always loved space. Always loved looking at the stars and learning about the solar systems. And piloting had always been a dream of mine. But when Shiro came to my school...” Lance's head ducked, and even from where Shiro was tucked away he could see Lance curling into himself, as if too shy to share his words. “I knew then that I wanted to go up there. 

“I would go up there, I would become the best pilot I could, and then I'd be able to fly next him.”

Shiro's heart skipped a beat.

“That night I went home and begged my Mama to let me apply. The academy was expensive – even if I got there on a full-ride scholarship, it would still be expensive. There was an insurance minimum to go through the program, uniforms weren't covered, hell, in order to eat the good food while I was there I needed to be able to pay for that,” Lance said. “I was willing to give up on eating actual food if it meant I could go, but Mama said that she was _not_ sending her baby off to learn how to shoot off into the stars if I couldn't eat right.”

He smiled, but it was off. Sad. “Mama and Papa took up an extra job each in order to help me get there. My older sisters were both in college by that point, and were both busy with their own school work and projects, but they sat down with me every single night to help me cram in as much studying as I could. I wasn't the smartest when it came to books as a kid.” He paused. “Still not really. Ha, and the morning of the entrance exam I was a freaking _mess_. My little brother – who was _four_ at the time, god – held my hand before the exam and pat my back and told me over and over I could do it.”

A sniff escaped Lance, and Shiro felt a pang. 'Right,' he thought, lips pursing. 'He's got a large family...' He smiled, and swallowed around the lump in his throat. 'A really large, loving family.'

“B-but yeah, I did it! I barely made the cut for the scholarship, but I did it!” Lance said, wiping at his eyes and smiling. “And that meant I could go and learn how to be a pilot and one day I was going to be flying next to _Shiro_.”

“And now you are,” the Beyazeen said softly.

“Yeah. And it's everything I thought it would be. And more,” Lance admitted. He paused a second, and snickered. “You know, when I was younger I had such silly dreams of discovering new planets and meeting aliens with him. Never in a million years – feebs, for you – would I have thought those silly dreams of mine would come _true_. Like, standing next to him as he shakes hands with Kings and leaders of alien races, helping to spread Voltron's influence and legacy...wow.”

The Beyazeen hummed. “You hold so much respect for your leader,” they observed. “He must be truly flawless.”

Lance snorted, and Shiro frown in offense. 'Okay, I'm not perfect, but come on,' he whined to himself, affronted.

“Oh, no, sweetheart, he is definitely _not_ flawless,” Lance assured, actually having the gall to laugh. “He's got the most ridiculous bed-head and sometimes he attacks first and asks questions later – I mean, Keith had to have gotten that from someone, right? And on more than one occasion he's been so sure of his own plans that he shut out other people's input and ideas.”

'...Okay, ouch,' Shiro though, wincing. 'But...true.'

“I mean, more often than not he's right, you know? But he's not perfect,” Lance said, waving a hand after if to wave away the mere idea of a perfect Shiro. “I don't hold any of that against him, though. That'd be dumb. And he's capable of owning up to his mistakes, so at least there's that. Not all people can do that.”

“What of the rumors that your leader is the Champion?” the Beyazeen asked, and Shiro shivered, the name like a trickle of ice water down his spine. “There is tale that he is the undefeated Champion of the Arena, and that he has bested every opponent and beast on the floor with such finality that many called him bloodthirsty.”

'That's...I didn't want...' Flashes of memory flickered across his eyes, and Shiro shivered again. 'Maybe I should...not listen anymore,' he thought, gulping and eyeing the doorway he had crossed through not too long ago. 'I shouldn't be listening in the first place, anyway, I...' 

It took a moment, but eventually he realized that Lance hadn't said anything. Shiro glanced back at Lance, wondering as to his silence at the question.

“I don't really know what the rumors are,” Lance said, voice not quite cold but not...quite as friendly as it was. “And I don't really care to know. Shiro doesn't talk to us about his time in the Arena, and that's...that's his decision. So I'm not going to talk about it.”

Shiro's breath was taken from him again, and he stared at Lance with wide eyes.

The Beyazeen visibly shrank back, clawed fingers curling in hesitantly at Lance's change in demeanor. “I...I apologize if I have upset you, Lance,” they said. “I was simply curious. I didn't mean to overstep any boundries.”

Lance sighed, and cracked a small smile. “It's fine. But we don't talk about that with each other as a team, and I'm not willing to talk about it behind Shiro's back, okay?”

“Understood,” the Beyazeen said, smiling as well, and Shiro was...Shiro was touched.

Not that he thought that Lance was going to gossip with his companion about that. But to say that? It was so simple, such a simple thing that Lance had said, and for some reason it struck a cord in him. A sting touched Shiro's eyes, and his chest felt tight as he breathed.

He also couldn't stop the smile from growing on his face.

“You were not joking when you said that you would follow him in heartbeat,” the Beyazeen observed. “...You truly care for your leader, don't you?”

Lance grinned. “Yeah,” he agreed, voice unbearably fond. “I do.”

Shiro had heard enough. He stepped back quietly, and decided that he could leave Lance to talk in peace. He made his way back inside, the music of the orchestra and the echoing voices in the ballroom loud compared to the quiet outside, and found Allura again.

She smiled when he approached, turning to greet him warmly. “Good, you actually spent longer than twenty dobashes out there,” she teased. “I'm so proud of you.”

“Haha,” he said, but the smile stayed on his face. “How're Keith and Pidge?”

She laughed, pointing just behind her, and Shiro spotted Keith and Pidge just behind her not-quite hiding in her shadow. “I think it might nearly be time for us all to retire for the evening,” she said, both younger Paladins perking up at the idea and nodding empathically.

“ _Please_ ,” they said in unison, and Shiro laughed.

“If you guys want to go ahead and go back to the Castle, you're good to go,” he said, snickering at the relieved expressions on their faces. “Allura and I need to say our goodbye to the Beyazeen King first, and then we'll follow after.”

“Thank god,” Pidge muttered, hand tight on Keith's arm as Keith began a straight and determined path out of the ballroom.

“So,” Allura said once the two of them were out of sight, “Did you check up on Lance?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” Shiro said. “He's just fine, having fun talking to someone.”

“Oooh, _fine_ , you say,” she teased, laughing as his ears reddened. “I'm – what's the word – kidding. But you're fine with him talking to someone else? You seemed so concerned earlier.”

Shiro smiled, somewhat shy yet warm. “I...I don't think there's anything to worry about, Princess,” he said, walking towards where the Beyazeen King was chatting up a few other nobles.

Perhaps, he thought to himself, it was time for him to show Lance that he enjoyed flying the stars with him, too.


End file.
